December 11, 2007

Iktinos

Iktinos (or Ictinus) was an architect active in the mid 5th century BC.[1] Ancient sources identify Iktinos and Kallikrates as co-architects of the Parthenon.

Pausanias identifies Iktinos as architect of the Temple of Apollo at Bassae. That temple was Doric on the exterior, Ionic on the interior, and incorporated a Corinthian column, the earliest known, at the center rear of the cella. Sources also identify Iktinos as architect of the Telesterion at Eleusis, a gigantic hall used in the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted a scene showing Iktinos together with the lyric poet Pindar - the painting is known as Pindar and Ictinus and is exhibited at the National Gallery, London.

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